Tag: Full Council

At a recent meeting of Full Council at the Town Hall, I asked the Tory Cabinet Member for Growth, Planning, Housing, and Economic Development, Cllr Peter Hiller (the chap who signed off on the unpopular Rhubarb Bridge decision), if he could let me know “..when residents living in and around Chiltern Rise, in Gunthorpe, can look forward to the introduction of dropped kerbs at the T-Junctions with both, Pennine Way and Cheviot Avenue?”

At the latest meeting of Full Council, at the Town Hall, I stood up and asked the Conservative Cabinet Member for Resourcese at Peterborough City Council, if he could:

“….let me know the names of each of the Cabinet Members that signed off on any Executive Decision relating to procuring services from Carillion, when the last Executive Decision was signed off and how much money the Council has borrowed and given to the aforementioned company?”

At a meeting of Full Council last year, I stood up (once more) and raised my concerns about Gunthorpe Road, and asked ToryCouncillor Peter Hiller, Cabinet Member for Growth, Planning, Housing and Economic Development, the following question:

“I have been contacted by local residents about the issue of speeding along Gunthorpe Road. Could the relevant Cabinet Member tell me if:

Did you know it’s been 6 years since the Norwood School fence issue was finally settled? Initially, things were running smoothly, but that now seems to have changed?

Since the initial voluntary key holders were no longer able to continue locking and unlocking the gates at the weekends, the school has done nothing to ensure that the gates, as per the agreement and signage that hangs on the fence, are open to members of public, outside of school hours.

I’ve since been contacted by local residents, and in response I stood up and raised the issue at a meeting of Full Council.

I asked Cllr John Holdich, Tory leader of Peterborough City Council, if he could provide me, and residents, with a response as to what they can do to make sure that the school does unlock the gates outside of school hours, to benefit local children, enabling them to play safely, make the land accessible to wheelchair users, and encourage the use of this green open space for a range of leisure activities?

“Initially and for the first few years of the use of the field, the school caretaker was opening the school field at around 4.15 after school clubs finished, and then the 21 members of the community were locking the gates at dusk to prevent access during dark and prevent unwanted use. This was the agreement for community use. There have been several different community key holders over this period.

“Unfortunately the community failed in locking the gates in the evening and so the gates remained open all night. As a matter of safeguarding and preventing night time use the school decided to leave the gates locked. This has appeared to have been no problem whatsoever as far as the school is aware no complaints to the school made in the last two of years and therefore the gates have remained locked.”

Do you agree with Tory Cllr Holdich that the “community failed” on this?

Or

Do you think its strange that land owned by local people and tax payers, is inaccessible despite an agreement to make it so, that wheelchair users specifically are affected, and why a school that employs a caretaker to open up and lock the other gates at the front of the school, can’t afford the time to do the same for the ones on the field?

But that didn’t stop the issue being raised at a meeting of Full Council earlier this year.
It was Liberal Councillor for Dogsthorpe, Cllr Chris Ash, who raised the issue, asking that given the proposals for a new junction at Werrington, whether a new station on the northern side of the city could also be included in development plans.

“… Network Rail and the Government have no plans whatsoever to build a new station in this area.” – PCC

It’s a shame, as I for one, suspect using train lines, will become a viable option over the next 25 years, as a way to reduce the reliance on car usage, as we already face restrictions such as road width, air quality targets etc.

Maybe we could even see the introduction of cable cars along the existing train lines that run throughout the city?

They did that in Mexico City to help address the issues of congestion and pollution.
What we do know about the rail junction at Werrington:

Government’s current plans are to speed up travel times on the East Coast Mainline and an example of this is the planned Werrington project.

This will take freight trains under the East Coast Mainline, and will improve reliability, journey times and also increase the number of trains.

Work at Werrington is set to start in the Summer of 2018 and completion is planned for Autumn 2020.